The Braille Monitor                                                                                              March, 2004

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2004 Washington Seminar

by Barbara Pierce

All told, almost fifty Federationists took part in the workshop for affiliate Webmasters.

Even without a grand opening to celebrate, the Washington Seminar each winter is a memorable experience. Most of those attending the 2004 event in the nation's capital contrived to arrive a bit early in order to take part in the opening of the NFB Jernigan Institute on Friday evening. (Next month we will devote a good deal of space to the report on the grand opening. For now we will say only that the NFB Research and Training Institute has been replaced in our vocabulary by the title NFB Jernigan Institute.) Some people flew into Washington and came by bus to the National Center for the party. Others flew directly to Baltimore and then returned to the BWI Airport at the close of the Washington Seminar for their trip home. Late on the evening of January 30, it took seven buses to transport the crowd from the grand opening to the Holiday Inn, Capitol.

Saturday the National Association of Blind Students conducted a daylong seminar, which was particularly interesting this year. The students decided not to hold a banquet on Saturday because many of them had already spent every bit of their discretionary cash on their tickets for the Friday night party.

Saturday afternoon the National Association of Blind Lawyers also conducted a seminar, providing continuing legal education credits for those interested. The lawyers' event concluded with a lovely reception. Back in Baltimore, the Research and Development Committee conducted a meeting all day Saturday.

Sunday affiliate and division Web masters gathered for a daylong workshop designed to improve the quality of Federation Web sites across the country. The National Organization of the Senior Blind sponsored a workshop from one to three discussing effective ways to reach out to seniors losing vision. The National Association of Blind Merchants also conducted a seminar Sunday afternoon, and Assistant Director of Governmental Affairs Jim McCarthy met with first-time attendees to discuss in depth this year's issues for Congress.

The Columbia Room foyer, where loudspeakers broadcast what was happening inside the room.

Brian Quintana and Stacy Cervenka sit on the floor at the front of the Columbia Room listening to Dr. Maurer.

When the meeting broke up, some people headed for the restaurant while others looked for a TV set in order to watch the Super Bowl

Craig Hedgecock, a Federationist from Troy, New York, plays "Scotland the Brave" on his bagpipes at the opening meeting of the 2004 Washington Seminar.

By 5:00 p.m. hundreds of people were packed into the Columbia Room and into the large open area outside its doors. Many state delegations had already turned in their appointment schedules and gathered the material for the packets they would deliver at meetings with members of Congress and their staffs. Precisely at five President Maurer called the great gathering in to order, and the 2004 Washington Seminar officially began.

Two college students sit on the floor to take notes during the great gathering-in.

As he opened the meeting, Dr. Maurer reminded us that through the centuries some of the bravest fighters in the history of the world have gone into battle led by skirling bagpipes. It was fitting therefore for us to open this gathering of the voice of the nation's blind with a stirring selection from our own piper, Craig Hedgecock. Diane McGeorge announced that, no doubt because of the grand opening, this was the largest Washington Seminar ever. Colin Low, chairman of the Royal National Institute of the Blind of the United Kingdom and president of the European Blind Union, briefly addressed the group before leaving to fly back to London. Careen Bradbury, chair of the board of governors of the Rushton Hall School for the Blind, and Tony Blackwood of Auto-Read Pty Ltd from Sydney, Australia, also spoke briefly and brought greetings from around the world.

Diane McGeorge, who makes all arrangements with the Holiday Inn, made several announcements. She also thanked everyone who had conveyed congratulations to her and Ray on their fiftieth wedding anniversary the previous Tuesday. Jim Gashel, director of governmental affairs, and Jim McCarthy, his assistant, then went over the fact sheets and other legislative business so that we would be ready to hit the corridors of power at a dead run the next morning.

Junerose Killian from Connecticut and her husband J.W. perch on a table at the back of the room during the great gathering-in. It isn't only the young who use electronic notetakers to jot down important information at the great gathering-in.

As usual Sandy Halverson and her efficient band of volunteers did an exemplary job of staffing the Mercury Room. They handed out materials, took down appointment schedules, and received reports from those returning from the Hill.

By Thursday almost everyone had packed up and left Washington. Like everyone else in town to visit senators during the week, we were a bit inconvenienced by the discovery of ricin in a Dirksen mail room, but we worked around the problems and kept moving. Increasingly we can see the impact that our return to the nation's capital every February has on our legislators and their staffs. The security people screening visitors coming in the doors simply switch to words rather than pointing when they see the canes and dogs, and we pass through their equipment without a hitch. Even the cab drivers quickly get the word that we are back and hustle for our business, taking both long canes and dogs in their stride.

:Members of the general public, however, seem to be a bit slower to catch on. A group of Federationists from Oregon were amused to discover one evening that not everyone recognizes white canes for what they are. They were waiting outside a restaurant for their table to be ready when they overheard the group behind them in line demanding that the staff issue them "those white sticks" as well so that they could hear their page when the time came to be seated.

It is wise to remember that we mostly educate people about blindness one at a time. The first week of February we were doing it on Capitol Hill; we will now continue that job from home. Our neighbors, coworkers, and family members will find us stronger, clearer, and more focused on the message of the National Federation of the Blind.

Jim McCarthy, Jim Gashel, and Diane McGeorge sit at the head table during the opening meeting.

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